Only half of passenger complaints resolved by CTA result in wins: report

Only half of all airline passenger disputes resolved by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) over a recent nine-month period have resulted in payouts for passengers, according to an analysis by CBC News.

According to the study, released Monday (August 5), CTA officers ordered airlines to compensate or refund passengers in 50 per cent of the 9,740 cases they resolved between Sept. 30, 2023, and June 30.

In most rulings that favoured the passenger (72.6 per cent), airlines were told to pay compensation for flight disruptions. For the rest of the cases, carriers had to compensate customers for added expenses, or refund flights altogether, the analysis shows.

READ MORE: WestJet asserts compliance with APPR rules, posts refund clarification

In each case, CTA officers issued the ruling after the airline had denied a passenger's claim, and the passenger and the airline failed to resolve the matter, CBC reports.

Among the 50 per cent of cases that ruled in favour of passengers, 1,553 (32.8 per cent) involved Air Canada, and 1,443 (30 per cent) involved WestJet.

Case details kept secret

The data was accessed through a new online tool on the CTA's website. The details of each case, however, aren’t available because rulings are no longer posted online – a move that has raised red flags among some legal and industry experts who question the constitutionality of such a provision.

Previously, the reasons behind a ruling, including how much was paid out to air passengers, were made public. But that changed last year after Ottawa streamlined its Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), rules that first kicked in in 2019.

Under APPR rules, airlines must provide cash refunds for flight cancellations, and pay up to $1,000 for delays of three hours or more within the carrier's control. Impacted passengers are also eligible for refunds, food or hotel stays depending on the situation.

Also part of the streamlining process was to speed up the CTA complaints process.

The CTA is responsible for resolving disputes between airlines and customers, and due to mounting complaints in recent years, the agency's backlog has exceeded more than 74,000 cases.

Full decisions about complain cases are only made public if both the passenger and airline agree. (And, according to the CTA, there hasn't yet been a case yet where both parties have agreed to go public).

APPR & hidden fees

This year should see the finalization of new regulations that address air passenger complaints.

The new rules would, for example, allow the CTA to modify regulations to make compensation mandatory for all disruptions (unless the disruption was caused by very limited circumstances that would be specifically defined by regulations).

The changes would also broaden the authority of CTA to set fees and charges to recover its costs.

This year's Federal Budget, which tabled $52.9 billion in new spending over five years, touched on air passenger regulations as they pertain to optional fees charged by airlines

The budget also seeks more transparency when it comes to airlines charging optional fees for things like seat selection, checked and carry-on baggage, meals on board, and in-flight entertainment.

Ottawa is also promising to amend the Competition Act to strengthen protections against hidden prices.

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